Friday, May 30, 2008

Posting from Word 2007

Just learning how to publish to blogger from Word 2007. A coworker blogged it originally and send the link.

http://web2.burke.k12.nc.us/blogs/ndenton/2008/05/27/neat-trick/

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Into The Book

Check out this interactive site about reading comprehension strategies:

Into the Book: Wisconsin Educational Communications Board
http://reading.ecb.org

Explore eight reading strategies for K-4 students and teachers in this
interactive and in-depth reading comprehension site:• Make meaningful
connections to climb to the summit of the Mountain of Understanding • Summarize
the thrilling life of a talkative pirate • Evaluate books to successfully
explore a distant solar system • Infer the real news in letters from pen pals •
And much more!

Students can watch online videos, play learning games and interactives,
and share their creations with friends and family. Teachers can delve into rich
information and teaching resources, lesson plans, video and audio clips,
downloads, and more.



Both the student and teacher sections of this site allow unique log-ins (that don't require any sort of registration or email address) so users can access prior work within the site.

The student section is very interactive and includes tasks for each comprehension strategy. The teacher section includes lesson plans, short videos, pdf posters, and even songs.

I was very impressed with this resource! Check it out!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Going to the Moon.

Think your students might want to go to the moon? Well, they can! Or at least their names can!

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO spaceship) will be taking an exploration journey in preparation for NASA's return to the moon.

You can add your name to a database that will be placed on a microchip to be embedded into the spacecraft. Visit http://lro.jhuapl.edu/NameToMoon/index.php to add your name (and print a certificate, if you wish).

I've added my name!

The LRO website has lots of information and resources to share with your students.
http://lro.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

SMARTen Up!

An interactive whiteboard allows you to "drive" your computer from touching the board, rather than from behind your computer. When I was teaching third grade, I wrote a grant and had a SMART Board in my classroom. It truly changed the way I taught. Having the board (and a projector) in my room encouraged student engagement in the lessons. It provided a chance to reach different learning styles, including my kinesthetic learners, who could interact with an activity by touching the board.

One example I often give when I talk about the impact the interactive whiteboard had on my students is this: I was teaching some low-level readers (who were often turned off from reading and were difficult to engage in comprehension skill activities). I would put a reading passage on the screen for the students to read. Then I would ask a comprehension question. I would ask a student to answer the question, but in addition to the answer, the student had to come to the board and underline the proof. I watched as my students who hated to read anxiously waited to be called on to answer the question so they could interact with the board. And it wasn't a phase; all year long, students were excited about using the board to interact with lessons. I, too, enjoyed the interaction the board afforded me. Instead of standing behind my computer to guide a lesson on the screen, I was able to be at the screen, "driving".

SMART Boards are not the only interactive whiteboards available. There are others (for example, ActivBoards, and Interwrite Boards.) My favorite is the SMART Board, but that may just be because I'm comfortable using it.

Below are some interactive whiteboard resources. Some are just for SMART Board, others are generic, and others are simply links to interactive sites that you could use even if you don't have an interactive whiteboard.


Education section of SMART Technologies website: http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-us/


Notebook lessons and SMART Board Resources

Interactive Whiteboard Resources

Interactive Websites


(cross posted on Explore the Possibilities)

Monday, May 12, 2008

FREE Typing / Keyboarding Practice

Want an alternative to purchasing keyboarding practice software?

Here are a couple of FREE keyboarding sites for children:

Keyboarding Skills Course http://www.e-learningforkids.org/Courses/Keyboarding_Skills/index.html (Click “Skip Intro” to go straight to the instructions/course.

Dance Mat Typing from BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/ Includes 12 stages.

Also, TuxType is a free typing tutor download for children. http://tuxtype.sourceforge.net/

Saturday, May 10, 2008

You CAN take it with you! Workshop Resources

This workshop was all about portable drives and the free applications that can be loaded on them.

Online resources from my You CAN take it with you! workshop.
http://katiechristo.pbwiki.com/PortableApps

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Digital Storytelling Workshop Resources

“We are our stories. We compress years of experience, thought, and emotion into a few compact narratives that we convey to others and tell to ourselves.” - Daniel Pink A Whole New Mind

Online resources from my Digital Storytelling workshop
http://katiechristo.pbwiki.com/Digital+Storytelling

Monday, May 05, 2008

Free Images, Clipart, Primary Source, Sound and Audio Resources

It is always hard to find the best "free" resources to suggest to teachers. Below you will find links to three pages where I have begun to compile these resources. Let me know if there are any I should add!

Photos, Images, and Clipart http://katiechristo.pbwiki.com/Photos,+Images,+and+Clip+Art

Primary Sources http://katiechristo.pbwiki.com/Primary+Sources

Sounds and Audio http://katiechristo.pbwiki.com/Sounds+and+Audio